Baseball: Ruprecht, Thunder blank Rockford 3-0

Zach Ruprecht tossed a one-hit shutout in his varsity mound debut, leading the Zimmerman Thunder past Rockford 3-0 on Friday in Rockford.

Ruprecht, a senior, walked three and struck out three, keeping a low pitch count to go the distance.

“I was hoping to get a solid four innings (from Ruprecht) and platoon with other pitchers,” said coach Chris Riley, “but he got better as the game continued. Zach didn’t play baseball last season so it was nice to see him find his spot on the mound.”

Along with the efficient pitching, the Thunder made zero errors, Riley added.

Zimmerman had just two hits, with Craig Steiskal and Riley Graham each 1-for-3. Graham had one RBI. Steiskal laid down a sacrifie bunt that led to two runs in the fifth inning.